


Morning Light

by A_Farnese



Series: Penumbra- Missing Scenes [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Gwaine - Freeform, Gwaine reading, Hurt Merlin, blind Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-18 00:09:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3548768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Farnese/pseuds/A_Farnese
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes it's the littlest things that make an ailing friend feel better.  </p>
<p>Set during 'The Wind in the Trees'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Morning Light

"You awake, mate?"

"Hmm?" Merlin turned his head toward the knight from his nest of blankets in the window seat. His eyes fluttered open, their unfocused gaze directed at the wall behind Gwaine. "Yeah. I'm awake. It's warm here in the sunlight. It's nice." He smiled sweetly. Gwaine couldn't help but grin. When was the last time he had seen Merlin smile? These days, the sorcerer's moods were as stormy as winter's weather, cold and temperamental, with far too little sunlight to warm the air.

' _I suppose I should be glad he's not using his magic these days.'_  Though the idea of Merlin being a sorcerer was as natural as breathing now, the thought of his lashing out in one of his darker moods was chilling. The burning courtyard of Blackheath was not so easily forgotten. ' _He would never hurt us. Not even when he's feeling his lowest.'_ Even in his foulest moods, Merlin had only ever struck out with insults. Though with Merlin's wit and way with words, that felt like enough to flay a man. But there would be none of that today. Today, there would be sunshine, warmth, and rare smiles. Gwaine would make sure of it. "Do you want anything? Something to eat? Drink? A friendly girl?"

Merlin's smile widened at the last. "No, I'm fine. Leave the girls alone."

"You're sure? I know an adventurous girl who works down at the Rising Sun. Pretty little thing, she is. Big brown eyes, lips like rosebuds." Gwaine winked at the raised eyebrow Gaius gave him from across the room. "Her name's Lark, and her voice lives up to it. I could run down there and see if she has the night off…"

"No. Leave poor Lark alone. I'm sure she has enough on her plate without you bothering her." Merlin relaxed into the blankets, one shaking hand scratching Cabal's ears. Sighing, the hound leaned into the sorcerer's touch, and both man and dog seemed greatly comforted by it. Gwaine had to admit it- Arthur had been right about bringing the hound up from the kennels. Maybe Cabal couldn't guide Merlin around like the dogs of the stories, but he could give the sorcerer the consolation and attention he needed. Unlike men, dogs knew nothing of guilt or pity. Perhaps that was why Merlin had always been so relaxed around animals. Men might think the beasts of the earth were lowly creatures, but animals neither hated nor judged. They never condemned their own kind for being different. Murder only fell within the purview of Men.

"Are you sure there's nothing you want? Name it. Apple tarts? Honey wine?" Gwaine asked. Gaius shot him another disapproving look. Probably, the physician didn't want to mix wine with whatever pain draughts he was giving Merlin. "Name it. I'll go and get it."

Merlin opened his mouth, paused, and closed it. A faint blush rose in his ashen cheeks. "There's one thing, I suppose," he muttered, as though embarrassed by whatever it was.

"What is it?" Gwaine grinned, wondering if Merlin had any idea that he could ask for the world right now, and they would bring it and the moon to him on a silver platter if they could.

"It's just… a book. Gwen was reading it for me. She didn't have a chance to finish, and…" His fingers twitched in Cabal's fur.

"And you want to find out what happens?" Gwaine asked. Merlin nodded. "Well. That's easily accomplished. And here I thought you were wanting me to go and find Mistress Lark after all. All right, then. Where is this book?"

Merlin waved toward his room. "In there, I think. I don't know where Gwen left it."

"Shouldn't be too hard to find," Gwaine said lightly, the smile fading from his face. Once, Merlin would have known exactly where the book was, could have gone himself to find it. Could have read it himself. Gwaine had lost count of how many times he'd found Merlin in the library last autumn, when the populace had taken a turn against him and driven him further into the shadows. Books had given him such a refuge, and now even that was taken away.

Gwaine dropped into one of the bedside chairs when he reached Merlin's room, looking around at the things they'd left behind while watching over him. Empty and half-empty potion bottles were lined up on the table next to a stack of fresh bedding, neatly folded. A basket of fabric and spindles of thread sat next to the bedside table, and the bed itself was rumpled and half-covered with pillows to keep Merlin propped up, take the weight off the healing burns on his back, and prevent his chest infection from getting worse. The two chairs weren't there for Merlin to sit in, and the lantern certainly wasn't there for the sorcerer's benefit.

Gwaine sighed. There were too many  _things_  in this room, and too few of them were Merlin's. Never before had the knight met someone so content with so little, or who cared so much for others while asking for nothing in return. The man's selflessness was astounding, and all the rest of the world saw was the magic they hated so much. Gwaine blew out a frustrated breath and pushed to his feet. ' _Someday, mate, you'll have every good thing you've earned. And you've earned a lot of good things.'_ He grabbed the book from where it was tucked against the wall behind the new bedding and hurried back to the main room.

Merlin's eyes were closed when the knight returned, his breathing even. In the morning sun he looked almost well again, with the light bleaching away the shadows under his eyes and warming the pallor of his skin to something resembling healthy. It seemed a shame to wake him. ' _But he wanted to hear the rest of the story...'_ "Merlin? You awake?" Gwaine said softly. He refrained from touching him. He had learned it was best not to touch Merlin before he woke up completely, to give the sorcerer a chance to realize where he was. Figure out that he was home. That he was safe.

"Hmm..?" Merlin's brow knit. His eyes fluttered open, the sapphrine gaze glassy and distant. "What?"

"I found the book." Gwaine sat down across from him, his fingers finding the marker Guinevere had left behind. "Still want to hear it? Or do you want me to leave you alone so you can sleep?"

"I sleep too much these days. Go on. I want to hear the next part. I'll try to stay awake." Merlin smiled again and swiped at his eyes.

"I'll try not to bore you," Gwaine chuckled. " _The Dream of Maxen Wledig_? Is that where we're starting?" he stumbled through the unfamiliar syllables as best he could. He might have been nobly born, but his education wasn't as extensive as Merlin's.

"That's it," the sorcerer said as he snuggled deeper into the blankets, his sweet smile returning. "Now what's this dream all about?"

"I hope it's about an adventure. Or a romance. Or both. I could use a nice, adventurous story with a beautiful woman waiting for the hero at the end," Gwaine said as he settled back in his chair and wet his lips. "All right, then. Let's see what this Maxen was dreaming about. ' _Maxen Wledig was emperor of Rome, and he was a comelier man, and a better and a wiser than any emperor that had been before him. And one day he had a council of kings, and he said to his friends, "I desire to go to-morrow to hunt…"'"_

 


End file.
